Silence inside the temple was shattered by the thunder of the White Lotus Magnum.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Sayuri fired three shots while running, each bullet aimed with lethal precision, head, heart, knee.
Lucy didn't move an inch.
She merely rotated her wrist.
The Dracallion, a heavy crimson blade, moved like a feather, deflecting the bullets with sharp, metallic chimes. Flattened casings clattered across the floor.
Sayuri didn't slow down.
Using the recoil to gain momentum, she slid across the glass-like technological floor and swept her leg low.
Lucy leapt, a minimal motion, just enough to let Sayuri's foot cut through empty air and landed lightly atop a wooden bench.
She said nothing.
She only watched Sayuri with that infuriating half-smile, crimson eyes dissecting every movement as if observing a child playing with knives.
"Stop looking at me like that!" Sayuri snarled.
She holstered the pistol and charged in.
Left punch, blocked by Lucy's palm.
Elbow strike, evaded.
High spinning kick, Lucy ducked at the very last second.
The red-haired huntress moved with infuriating economy. She didn't look like she was fighting, she existed on a higher plane of speed. Occasionally, she nudged Sayuri aside or hooked her leg playfully, sending her stumbling… only to let her recover and try again.
"Are you mocking me?!" Sayuri screamed, the blue aura in her right eye flaring brighter.
Fueled by rage, she feinted a punch, then twisted her body and kicked Lucy's wrist with supernatural precision.
The impact cracked through the air.
Lucy's fingers opened on reflex.
The Dracallion flew high, spinning end over end before slamming into the glass floor several meters away, vibrating like a tuning fork.
Disarmed.
Sayuri surged forward, slamming Lucy to the ground and mounting her.
All the buried rage, fear for Hikari, confusion, resentment, poured into her fists.
"DIE!"
She pummeled Lucy's face.
Right.
Left.
Right.
Each blow struck with enough force to shatter concrete. Lucy's head snapped side to side, blood spilling from her nose and split lip.
But Lucy didn't fight back.
Beneath the red coat, black and crimson veins pulsed violently along her arm. The air grew heavy, thick with the scent of ozone and ancient blood. The shadow of bat-like wings threatened to bloom across the floor.
The Monster Awaken clawed to the surface.
Lucy clenched her fist.
She gritted her teeth and forced the beast back down.
She endured the blows.
Panting, Sayuri grabbed Lucy by the corset collar and hauled her up. With a brutal twist of her hips, she hurled the vampire across the hall.
Lucy crashed into the base of Ulisses' massive statue, cracking sacred stone.
Sayuri sprinted to the embedded Dracallion, ripped the blade free with one hand, spun and hurled it like a spear.
The red blade screamed through the air.
THWACK!
It pierced straight through Lucy's chest, pinning her to the stone wall behind the statue. Blood soaked the golden corset. Lucy hung limp, head bowed, arms dangling.
Sayuri stopped, chest heaving, sweat streaking down her face, mixing with dust.
"It's over…" she whispered, adrenaline draining, shock setting in.
She turned away, ready to search for Hikari.
"Haaah…"
A long, weary sigh echoed behind her.
Sayuri froze.
She turned slowly.
Lucy's eyes were open, glowing red, brighter than before. One hand wrapped around the hilt protruding from her sternum.
"Wow…" Lucy said, her voice rough but steady.
"I guess I underestimated you… just a little."
With a grunt, but no scream, she pulled the blade free. The sound of metal sliding through flesh and bone was nauseating.
She landed on her feet. The hole in her chest already smoked and began to seal shut.
Sayuri stepped back, the Magnum trembling in her grip.
"What are you…?" she whispered.
"You're not human."
Lucy wiped blood from her chin with the back of her hand. Her gaze held something unreadable, melancholy? Recognition?
"Looks like we're the same," Lucy said calmly.
"You, me…"
She gestured with the sword toward one of the fallen ninja corpses.
"…and them."
Sayuri looked.
The tactical hood had torn open.
The face beneath wasn't human.
The skin melted away, revealing a protruding jaw, shark-like teeth, and multiple milky eyes.
A Ghoul.
A monster wearing the sacred uniform of the Order.
"What…?" Sayuri breathed.
"But… they're Elite Guard…"
When she turned back to demand answers, Lucy was gone.
The red-haired huntress crouched at the edge of the shattered roof, thirty meters above, moonlight casting her into a dramatic silhouette.
"Still…" Lucy called down, her voice echoing,
"…I think you're special, girl. There's fire in that blood."
Sayuri clenched her teeth, confusion boiling back into fury.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" she shouted upward.
"WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?! WHO ARE YOU?!"
Lucy smiled, that knowing smile of someone who's seen the world end more than once.
"In time, you'll understand."
She sheathed the sword on her back.
"But now… business calls. I've got more trash to clean up."
Sayuri raised the Magnum and fired.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Lucy simply leaned back and let herself fall into the night, dodging the bullets as if they were flies.
"Bye-bye, kid!" her voice vanished into the wind.
Sayuri stood alone in the desecrated temple, surrounded by the corpses of monsters in disguise and the stench of blood.
Shaking, she picked up her eyepatch and covered the pulsing blue glow of her right eye.
"Shit…"
Minutes later, side doors burst open.
Liora marched in, pale but composed, followed by a cleanup squad of ninjas. Behind her, Hikari dragged a heavy black wheeled case, plastic clattering against stone.
"You're late," Sayuri said without turning.
"Who was that woman?"
"Witnesses say she arrived recently in Kyoto," Liora replied coolly, ignoring the carnage.
"A foreign mercenary."
Hikari stopped the case in front of Sayuri. He looked nauseated by the blood, but his eyes were fixed only on her.
"Sayuri… are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she lied.
Hikari punched in a code. The locks hissed open.
"Liora was going to give this to you as a promotion surprise," he said.
"But I think you'll need it now."
He opened the case.
Sayuri's eyes lit up.
A sword, but not a katana.
Brutal. Industrial. Heavy.
The thick, dark-metal blade bore serrated teeth along one edge. A chainsaw pin jutted from the hilt. Pistons and exhaust lines ran along its spine.
"This is the ChainsawKing," Hikari said proudly.
"Internal combustion engine reinforced with energy cells. Pull the pin, the blade overheats and electrifies. Cuts steel like butter."
Sayuri lifted it.
Heavy, but right. Balanced.
She pulled the cord.
VROOOOM! WRRRZZZZZT!
The blade roared. Teeth spun. Blue sparks raced along the metal. The air filled with gasoline and ozone.
"This…" Sayuri grinned, a genuine smile, the first of the night.
"This is awesome."
She rested the massive blade on her shoulder and looked at Liora.
"So, boss? What'd you think of the show? Looks like that woman was doing some sightseeing."
Liora turned from issuing orders, fury simmering.
"How can you joke at a time like this? Our leader is dead. The sanctuary violated."
Sayuri shrugged.
"Ask me for something harder than mourning that old bastard."
Liora narrowed her eyes and stepped close.
"You want something hard? Fine."
She pointed to the hole in the roof.
"The woman in red. I want you to hunt her down and bring her back to the Order for judgment."
Sayuri looked up, remembering Lucy's smile.
"Deal."
"Sayuri, no!" Hikari grabbed her arm.
"You saw what she did! And your eye, you haven't fully recovered! Please, it's too dangerous!"
Sayuri gently but firmly freed herself.
"Duty calls, Hikari. And besides…"
She revved the sword again, the engine screaming.
"She owes me an apology."
The ground trembled.
Not subtle, violent.
The temple shook. Dust rained from the ceiling.
Outside, sirens wailed.
Then screams. Thousands of them.
"What now?" Liora drew her blade.
Sayuri ran to the temple doors and looked out over Kyoto.
Smoke rose from multiple districts.
Winged shadows crossed the moon.
"Looks like the party's just getting started," Sayuri muttered, teeth clenched.
To be continued…